The SDMs in Kangra have been directed to collect data regarding surplus land of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) in the district. Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, Hemraj Bairwa issued the direction during a meeting of the Pong Dam Displaced Development Fund, which was also attended by BBMB officials.
Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi, while chairing a meeting of Pong Dam oustees, had declared that the Himachal Government would move to take over surplus land from the BBMB. The move to collect data on surplus land with the BBMB in Kangra district is in line with the Revenue Minister’s decision.
Sources say that in Kangra district, the surplus land of the BBMB could include the land on the banks of the Pong Dam Lake in Dehra and Fatehpur subdivisions of the district. The surplus land of the BBMB in Kangra district is cultivated by locals when the water in the Pong Dam Lake recedes during the winter. Interestingly, while the BBMB holds a lot of surplus land in Himachal, many Pong Dam oustees are living as landless labourers after their land was acquired for the construction of the lake.
In Bilaspur district, the surplus land of the BBMB could include abandoned housing colonies and other yards that were lying redundant after the construction of various dams.
The BBMB, which controls the Beas and Sutlej river basins in Himachal Pradesh, owns land in various districts of the state like Kullu, Mandi, Bilaspur and Kangra. The land in the procession of the BBMB include the dams over the Beas and the Sutlej, including the Gobind Sagar Dam located in Bilaspur district, Pong Dam in Kangra district and the Pandoh Dam in Mandi district. Besides, the BBMB owns land in form of townships in Himachal in these districts to house its employees managing its dams and power projects.
The BBMB is the joint ownership of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and the Himachal Government. Himachal was recently given about 7 per cent share in the BBMB by the Supreme Court on account of merged areas of Punjab in Himachal. Since Himachal was given a share in the BBMB from retrospective effect, the state has filed claims of about Rs 2,000 crore from Punjab and Haryana on account of its share from the BBMB projects. Punjab and Haryana have moved the Supreme Court against the claims of the Himachal Government.
As four states jointly own the BBMB, Himachal has to take permission from its board to set up drinking water and irrigation schemes on the Beas and the Sutlej. The permission from the BBMB is hard to come by due to which many areas of Himachal around the Pong Dam lake and the Gobind Sagar lake are suffering due to the lack of drinking water and irrigation schemes.
The sources say that if the Himachal Government moves to take over the surplus properties of the BBMB, which may extend across thousands of acres in the state, it might enter into a long legal battle with the partner states.
